PRINT

LISTEN

QUIZZES

QUIZZES

Carlos Tevez “Finished” at Manchester City (28th September, 2011)

Manchester City’s Argentine superstar Carlos Tevez has seemingly ended his career at the club by refusing to play in a European Champions League match. City coach Roberto Mancini has insisted Tevez is 'finished' with the club. Tevez was named as a substitute in Tuesday’s crucial Euro clash with German side Bayern Munich. He was angry that he did not come on as the first substitution. When Mancini asked him to play for the final 35 minutes of the game, Tevez refused, leading to an angry exchange of words between player, manager and other team officials. Manchester were losing 2-0 when Mancini asked Tevez to play. The coach wanted Tevez to use his trademark energy and eye for goal to help salvage at least a draw.

Tevez is a former Manchester City captain. He has had a troubled time at City since controversially moving there from bitter rivals Manchester United in 2009. In December 2010 he handed in a transfer request citing family reasons and a breakdown in relations with the club. He said he wanted to move to London because it was nearer his home in Argentina, albeit a 15-minute difference by air. A furious Mancini said: "If one player earns a lot of money, plays for Manchester City in the Champions League and he behaves like this, for me he can't play. Never.” He added: "When one player refuses to go on to help his teammates in a match as important as this, it is very disappointing." Tevez’s only post-match comment was, "It is his (Mancini's) decision”.

WARM-UPS

1. FOOTBALL (SOCCER): Walk around the class and talk to other students about football. Change partners often. Sit with your first partner(s) and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. SOCCER PLAYERS: What do you think of them? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you wrote. Change and share again.

What do you think?

Should/Will things change

Skill

Role model

Salary

Personality

Career

Sportsmanship

4. TEVEZ: Students A strongly believe Tevez should be banned from football for refusing to play; Students B strongly believe the opposite. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. SPORTS: Which do you like best? Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the best at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.

Football (soccer)

Football (American)

Cricket

Tennis

Baseball

Basketball

Cycling

F1 motor racing

6. SUPERSTAR: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘superstar’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

Manchester City’s Argentine (1) ____________ Carlos Tevez has seemingly ended his career at the club by (2) ____________ to play in a European Champions League match. City coach Roberto Mancini has insisted Tevez is 'finished' with the club. Tevez was named as a substitute in Tuesday’s (3) ____________ Euro clash with German side Bayern Munich. He was angry that he did not come on as the first substitution. When Mancini asked him to play for the (4) ____________ 35 minutes of the game, Tevez refused, leading to an angry (5) ____________ of words between player, manager and other team officials. Manchester were (6) ____________ 2-0 when Mancini asked Tevez to play. The coach wanted Tevez to use his trademark (7) ____________ and eye for goal to help (8) ____________ at least a draw.

losingcrucialexchangesalvagesuperstarenergyrefusingfinal

Tevez is a (9) ____________ Manchester City captain. He has had a troubled time at City since controversially moving there from (10) ____________ rivals Manchester United in 2009. In December 2010 he handed in a transfer request citing family reasons and a breakdown in (11) ____________ with the club. He said he wanted to move to London because it was nearer his home in Argentina, (12) ____________ a 15-minute difference by air. A furious Mancini said: "If one player (13) ____________ a lot of money, plays for Manchester City in the Champions League and he (14) ____________ like this, for me he can't play. Never.” He added: "When one player (15) ____________ to go on to help his teammates in a match as important as this, it is very disappointing." Tevez’s only post-match (16) ____________ was, "It is his (Mancini's) decision”.

earnsrefusesalbeitbittercommentformerbehavesrelations

LISTENING  Listen and fill in the gaps

Manchester City’s Argentine superstar Carlos Tevez __________________ his career at the club by refusing to play in a European Champions League match. City coach Roberto Mancini has insisted Tevez is 'finished' with the club. Tevez was ____________________ in Tuesday’s __________________ German side Bayern Munich. He was angry that he did not come on as the first substitution. When Mancini asked him to play for the final 35 minutes of the game, Tevez refused, leading to an ____________________ between player, manager and other team officials. Manchester were losing 2-0 when Mancini asked Tevez to play. The coach wanted Tevez to use his trademark __________________ goal to help _____________________.

Tevez is a former Manchester City captain. He _____________________ at City since controversially moving ____________________ Manchester United in 2009. In December 2010 he _________________________ citing family reasons and a breakdown in relations with the club. He said he wanted to move to London because it was nearer his home in Argentina, albeit a 15-minute ____________________. A furious Mancini said: "If one player ____________________, plays for Manchester City in the Champions League and he behaves like this, for me he can't play. Never.” He added: "When one ____________________ on to help his teammates in a match as important as this, it is very disappointing." Tevez’s only post-match comment was, "It is his (Mancini's) decision”.

What do you think of Tevez wanting to move several hundred kilometres from Manchester to London to be nearer his family?

e)

Should Roberto Mancini change his mind about not playing Tevez?

f)

How much did Tevez let down his teammates?

g)

What do you think will happen from now?

h)

Is football (soccer) the greatest sport in the world?

i)

What do you think Manchester City fans think of Tevez?

j)

What questions would you like to ask Carlos Tevez?

LANGUAGE  MULTIPLE CHOICE

Manchester City’s Argentine superstar Carlos Tevez has (1) ____ ended his career at the club by refusing to play in a European Champions League match. City coach Roberto Mancini has (2) ____ Tevez is 'finished' with the club. Tevez was named as a substitute in Tuesday’s (3) ____ Euro clash with German side Bayern Munich. He was angry that he did not come on as the first substitution. When Mancini asked him to play for the final 35 minutes of the game, Tevez refused, leading (4) ____ an angry (5) ____ of words between player, manager and other team officials. Manchester were losing 2-0 when Mancini asked Tevez to play. The coach wanted Tevez to use his trademark energy and (6) ____ for goal to help salvage at least a draw.

Tevez is a former Manchester City captain. He has had a (7) ____ time at City since controversially moving there from (8) ____ rivals Manchester United in 2009. In December 2010 he handed in a transfer request citing family reasons and a breakdown (9) ____ relations with the club. He said he wanted to move to London because it was nearer his home in Argentina, (10) ____ a 15-minute difference by air. A furious Mancini said: "If one player earns a lot of money, plays for Manchester City in the Champions League and he behaves like this, for me he can't play. Never.” He added: "When one player refuses to go (11) ____ to help his teammates in a match as important as this, it is very disappointing." Tevez’s only (12) ____ -match comment was, "It is his (Mancini's) decision”.

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about football (soccer). Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. FOOTBALL (SOCCER): Make a poster about football (soccer). Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. CARLOS TEVEZ: Write a magazine article about Carlos Tevez and his refusal to play when his coach asked him to. Include imaginary interviews with Carlos, a fan and Roberto Mancini.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. LETTER: Write a letter to Carlos Tevez. Ask him three questions about football (soccer). Give him three ideas on what to do now. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

F

b.

F

c.

F

d.

T

e.

T

f.

T

g.

T

h.

F

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.

seemingly

a.

on the face of it

2

insisted

b.

maintained

3.

substitute

c.

replacement

4.

losing

d.

trailing

5.

salvage

e.

rescue

6.

former

f.

ex-

7.

troubled

g.

difficult

8.

handed in

h.

submitted

9.

behaves

i.

acts

10.

disappointing

j.

unfortunate

PHRASE MATCH:

1.

seemingly ended his

a.

career at the club

2

Tuesday’s crucial

b.

Euro clash

3.

leading to an angry exchange

c.

of words

4.

eye for

d.

goal

5.

help salvage at

e.

least a draw

6.

He has had a troubled

f.

time at City

7.

he handed in a transfer

g.

request

8.

albeit a

h.

15-minute difference

9.

he behaves

i.

like this

10.

go on to help

j.

his teammates

GAP FILL:

Carlos Tevez “finished” at Manchester City

Manchester City’s Argentine (1) superstar Carlos Tevez has seemingly ended his career at the club by (2) refusing to play in a European Champions League match. City coach Roberto Mancini has insisted Tevez is 'finished' with the club. Tevez was named as a substitute in Tuesday’s (3) crucial Euro clash with German side Bayern Munich. He was angry that he did not come on as the first substitution. When Mancini asked him to play for the (4) final 35 minutes of the game, Tevez refused, leading to an angry (5) exchange of words between player, manager and other team officials. Manchester were (6) losing 2-0 when Mancini asked Tevez to play. The coach wanted Tevez to use his trademark (7) energy and eye for goal to help (8) salvage at least a draw.

Tevez is a (9) former Manchester City captain. He has had a troubled time at City since controversially moving there from (10) bitter rivals Manchester United in 2009. In December 2010 he handed in a transfer request citing family reasons and a breakdown in (11) relations with the club. He said he wanted to move to London because it was nearer his home in Argentina, (12) albeit a 15-minute difference by air. A furious Mancini said: "If one player (13) earns a lot of money, plays for Manchester City in the Champions League and he (14) behaves like this, for me he can't play. Never.” He added: "When one player (15) refuses to go on to help his teammates in a match as important as this, it is very disappointing." Tevez’s only post-match (16) comment was, "It is his (Mancini's) decision”.